Improved chair, couch, and stretcher



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. JQUETT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVED CHAIR, COUCH, AND STR ETCHER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 59,403, dated November 6, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. J OUETT, of Brooklyn, of Kings county, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Combined Chair and Bedstead; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to a novel method of constructing a combined and portable bed or stretcher and chair, and has for its object to produce a simple, effective contrivance which shall be capable of conversion at pleasure into either a bed or stretcher or reclining-chair; and to these ends my invention consists in the employment, in combination, of a peculiarlyconstructed shifting frame and removable apron or sustaining-band, of cotton or other suitable material, as hereinafter more fully described.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the construction and operation of the same, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is an elevation of the apparatus adjusted for use as'a bed or stretcher. Fig.2 is a top View of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus adjusted or arranged for use as a sort of sleepy-hollow chair; and Fig. 4. is an elevation of the apparatus shifted to form a smaller chair (and one more erect) than that seen at Fig. 3.

In the several figures the same part will be found designated by the same letter of reference.

' A A and B B are four bars, which are connected together at their ends, the two A A by cross-bars O O, and the two marked B B by cross-bars D D, so as to constitute two rectangular frames, and these frames have their bars A A and B B pivoted together by means of suitable bolts or pivots, E E, as clearly shown at Figs. land 2.

G is a simple apron or rectangularly-shaped piece of canvas cloth, or any other suitable or desirable material; and h h are two bars or strips, to which the ends of the said apron G are connected, as clearly shown.

' I are simple leather straps or binder-cords,

which may be used as for the purpose hereinafter mentioned.

The two pairs of bars A B and A B are halved in or notched together in a peculiar manner where they are pivoted at E E, so as to interlock and brace together in the various positions relatively in which they are designed to be used. This peculiar interlocking is clearly illustrated in the drawings, an examination of which will best explain. it. I

When it is desired to use the contrivance as a bed or stretcher, the adjustable or shifting frame-work is put in the position shown at Figs. 1 and 2 and the apron G placed over it, having its rollers or bars 72. h placed under the projecting ends of the bars A A and B B, as clearly seen in the drawings.

When it is necessary to lift the bed up or carry it with a person upon it, (which would occur in cases where the contrivancewas used as a stretcher or hospital-bed,) one or more straps, I, or their equivalent, should be Wrapped or securely fastened around bars A B in the manner illustrated at Fig. 1, for the purpose of rendering the entire fixture or apparatus perfectly rigid or fixed in its adjustment. These straps I may be made useful in putting up or packing the parts for transportation or in lieu thereof a simple piece of cord may be used as a substitute without departing from the spirit of my invention.

When it is desired to convert the bed (shown at Figs. 1 and 2) into a reclining or sleepyhollow chair, the apron G is removed, (also the straps I, when they are used,) and the framework, by turning the bars AA and B B upon the pivots E E, is thrown into the position shown at Fig. 3. The apron G is then replaced in the manner seen at Fig. 3, with its bar It slipped under and behind the lower ends of the two bars A A, and its roller h placed back of the upper ends of said two bars. In this way the apron G is supported between the cross-bars O and D, and forms the back and seat of areclining-chair. By removing the apron or strip of cloth G again and inverting the frame-work, leaving the parts in the same relative position, a chair of different proportions and size may be formed, as seen at Fig. 4, the bar h being placed under the forward ends of bars A A, and the apron G passed from thence up over the bar D, and p 

